The language of gates
Story of two travelers (A and E) trying to arrive and enter the largest settlement in the land. When they arrive the guard at the settlement gate is speaking a foreign language and chases them away (like crows chase hawks). They decide to move along the outside of the settlement walls in search of another way inside.
They run into other travelers along the way that also speak different languages. Some are friendly and others are mean/hostile to them (as in life). They learn that there are many people from many other smaller settlements. They eventually meet another traveler who speaks their tongue. He tells them that each gate belongs to a different tongue (bird metaphor here?). And they learn that they must keep walking around the wall and that there is a certain gate that allows speakers of their tongue.
Why are they together? Is E leading them?
Names:???
- Egret
- Auk
- Asity
The names should be provided by the author/illustrator partners. They should be deriyfrom their home countries.
The theme of the story “growth” should parallel how Florence (rather innocently) is trying to uncover the previous Florence’s story proposal.
Something has caused them to be in a migratory state. Banished? Rite of Passage? Famine? Weather?
*Possible candidate for “growth” or “knowledge” tale. In either case both tales should involve some interaction that corresponds to the story. If “used for growth” get it. (got the idea as I write this) then it should be just that.
Cool interactive “reveal” trick with the reader:
- Place the FOH scroll on a column and wrap it around counter clockwise.
- What if no column is available. Are their clues in the story to aid with this? What if one of the gates was damaged and the talon was destroyed? What other means would he entrants use to verify their entry? Lay it out on a table?
- The start of the scroll must be at some position. For example if 1 o’clock = growth tale then the start of the scroll must be at
- And the column perimeter must precisely match the length of the scroll
Then something should be revealed about the story or Florence.
Insert sketch here.
This could be demonstrated (hinted) by the very same instructions given to the travelers in the story (from the traveler clues them in on the right gate to use.
Perhaps (in the story) there are columns that indicate the gate number. And in the physical FOH scroll there are corresponding clues (like points on a compass). Or some other device like a round obelisk (or raptor talons).
This interactive trick is also a metaphor for the intrinsic migratory behavior in birds (how they navigate and why they travel). The reader must be able to accomplish this trick in order to gain a deeper understanding of the story. The interaction should establish a stronger bond between the reader and the physical book/scroll.
Tangential Thought because I was imagining the FOH scroll becoming more popular than Florence’s story. Is this a novel with accompanying toy? Or is the novel on one side and the FOH scroll on the other? How would the story be read in that case? Who likes books? And who likes games? What is the first toy? Bones? Do birds play with toys? Are the travelers traders of this toy?
This will be important in determining the reading level (or language complexity) of the physical novel.
****Triple crazy idea: what if the FOH scroll was completely unrelated to the Novel. Gummies talking here...
Package design that can hold the novel and the FOH scroll.
